Mark Harmon Jumps 7 Spots and is America’s Favorite TV Star

January 13, 2011

NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — He was a lothario doctor on St. Elsewhere, another doctor on Chicago Hope and now he is NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Mark Harmon, and his piercing blue eyes, is America’s Favorite TV Star, a jump from last year when he was number 8 on the list. Oprah Winfrey, last year’s number one, drops to a tie for number two. Hugh Laurie, TV’s Dr. House, moves up from a tie for the 4th spot last year to a tie for the number 2 spot this year.

Rounding out the top five are two late night talk show hosts – returning to the list after a three year absence with his new TBS show, Conan O’Brien is number 4. The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart is tied for number 5, and even with some recent bad press, Two and a Half Men’s Charlie Sheen moves up from number 7, to tie Conan at number 5.

The next three on the list all host their own shows: Ellen DeGeneres drops down from a tie for 4th place to number 7 this year, Bill O’Reilly moves up two spots from number 10 last year to number 8 this year, and making his own top ten, David Letterman remains at number 9. Returning to the list after dropping off last year is Steve Carrell of The Office.

Off the Map

While two people moved back to the list, two television personalities moved off the list. Last year he debuted at number 2 on the list but even after staging a large event on the National Mall, this year Glenn Beck has dropped out of the top ten. Another television personality was in the news this past year–yet despite his return to the Tonight Show, Jay Leno still dropped from number three last year out of the top ten.

Different Strokes

There are different number ones for different groups. Men say Mark Harmon is their favorite, while for women it is Oprah. Generations also have their favorites. Echo Boomers (those aged 18-33) are happy he’s back on television as Conan O’Brien is their favorite, while for Gen Xers (aged 34-45) it’s all about Dr. House and Hugh Laurie. Baby Boomers (aged 46-64) have a tie for their favorite as both Charlie Sheen and Mark Harmon top their list. For Matures (aged 65 and older) there are also two on top – Mark Harmon and Bill O’Reilly.

There are definitely some partisan differences. Bill O’Reilly is the favorite for Republicans but for Conservatives he ties with Mark Harmon as the favorite. For Independents, Mark Harmon is number one and for Moderates their favorite is Oprah Winfrey. Number one for Democrats and Liberals is the same – Jon Stewart.

Each region also has their favorite. For the East it is Oprah, while Midwesterners say Conan is their favorite. Westerners are partial to Mark Harmon and Charlie Sheen is tops for Southerners.

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States December 6 and 13, 2010 among 2,331 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

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Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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